BEI INDEX GAINS ON SMALL-CAP BUYING

Jakarta, Nov. 25 (ANTARA) - The Composite Stock Price Index (IHSG) at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) here on Wednesday morning opened higher as investors hunted small cap shares.

The BEI index went up 7.638 points or 0.31 percent to 2,479.523 and the LQ-45 index surged 1.890 point or 0.39 percent to 489.888 points.

Investors reacted positively to the steps taken by the National Police Chief by replacing several high-ranking officers, according to Harry Kurniawan, a domestic stock market observer.

They bought small-cap shares of, among other things, BCA, BNI, Telkom, Bumi and Medco, believed to be still profitable, he said.

Domestic investors tended to ignore external negative factor, including Wall Street losses, he added.

Among top gainers at the BEI were BCA shares that rose Rp50 to Rp4,700, BNI shares that went up Rp25 to Rp2,025, Telkom shares that added Rp50 to Rp9,050, Bumi shares that advanced Rp25 to Rp2,650, Medco shares that gained Rp25 to Rp2,075 per share, Indo Tambang Mega shares that increased Rp300 to Rp28,050, Astra Agro Lestari shares that surged Rp200 to Rp23,600 and Bukit Asam shares that rose Rp150 to Rp16,250 per share.

Meanwhile, the rupiah strengthened against the US dollar in the Jakarta interbank spot market here on Wednesday morning as investors released their greenback and bought the local unit.

The Indonesian currency traded Rp9,460-Rp9,475 per US dollar, up 15 points from Rp9,475-Rp9,490 at the market close a day earlier.